HEADS UP: Before you begin reading this, I want to bring to your attention that what you're about to read will be LONG! Just a warning just in case you're feeling TL;DR today.

Thank you and enjoy!

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Oh hello, you're looking well!

It's nice to see you after this long hiatus. Please, take a seat and we shall begin! (If you're already sitting, then ignore that last part :P)

I really don't know where to start. So much has happened, so much is going to happen in the future and there's so much I want to say that it's hard to begin with something. I'll do my best, so don't be surprised if it seems like I'm rambling on and on.


I'm sure those of you who read my previous journal are wondering where I've been. Of course I haven't been gone completely. I've been Tweeting, checking Facebook and Youtubing here and there; but I haven't been on FA, Skype or chatted with some of you in over a month! Some of you know already that I took a hiatus to clear my head, take a much-needed break and to focus more on school. There's been highs and lows through the time I was gone, but all and all I'm really glad I took the hiatus. It helped me SO MUCH that I'm pretty happy about the outcome (Everyone needs a break once in a while. Even a KittyFox). School has actually been going pretty smooth, I was able to get my time/thoughts sorted out and I accomplished a lot from what I've seen. I also took some time during the end of October to have some Halloween fun and to reflect on my time in the fandom (I'll get to both of those later in the journal). I also came to some conclusions, that I'll talk more about later in the journal. Bear in mind some of the things I'm going to mention might upset some of my furends, watchers, contacts, etc. But they need to be said. Other than all that, there are some future things that I'm looking forward to! (Again, I'll get to those later in the journal).

Those are really the highlights of my hiatus. They may not sound very exciting, but that's really all that happened.


And now for specifics :3


First I want to talk about my Halloween. I'm sorry I wasn't here to celebrate it with you all; I can tell it was pretty fun considering the submissions and videos I've been seeing! I hope you all had a great one! I do know it's a special holiday for furries (Cuz of candy, spooks and fursuits :3). Here's what I did: I went to a small costume party in my local community and I didn't know what to go as. I actually didn't fursuit! I know, it's crazy! I fursuited last year so I figured I'd go in a costume that I wouldn't get super hot in this time. So... I decided to go as PewDiePie. (Don't judge me X3) [for those of you who don't know who that is, you probably didn't laugh. Sorry XD] I thought it would be fun since I have a Scandinavian face already. All I had to do was draw a beard on my face; so it was an easy last minute costume! And to make things more interesting, Slender Man showed up at the party! What are the odds?! The good news was, he wasn't the real Slender. All in all, it was a fun night. I got recognized by a good amount of people because of my costume so it was a success!

That was my Halloween! :D


Next I want to talk about the benefits the hiatus has brought. There is a lot to talk about considering it's been a long time! I'll try and remember all that I can that hopefully gives you a small picture of what good has come of this. I gotta say, it was certainly the right choice to take one; I could really tell there was a lot on my plate that I needed to clean off. And activity on here and other places just seemed like way too much to handle. That being said, I feel rested. :) On top of that, I just want to mention that I did learn some things along the way. When you're on a break from a busy part of your life, you have time to think. One thing I did learn is, that no matter what happens in your life, whether it's good, bad, heartbreaking, overwhelming, etc. it's merely just a plot twist in your life-story. The best things you can do with that plot twist is to learn from it, understand it and/or realize that it's now in the past and all that is ahead is the future. When we really understand that, things and opportunities really open up for each of us. It's up to us to control ourselves and to realize what the right thing to do is in our lives; and no one else can control you, but you. Life is a precious gift, and you only get one chance at this kind of a life! Make it the absolute best you can because it's not worth wasting! That is pretty obvious but I never truly understood what it really meant until recently.

So those are the good things that resulted! And I'm glad they happened :)


The next thing I want to tell you all is about my time in the fandom. It has now been 2 years and 2 weeks since I first discovered the fandom; and today marks 2 years even, that I've been on FA! I just have to ask, where did all the time go?? It seems like such a short time ago since I found this life changing place! I'm going to go into a brief recap of my time here in the last 2 years. It was the evening of October 27th, 2011 that I had found a Hater video (of all videos) that was basically sabotaging furries! And long story short, that lead me to find and watch a REAL explanation of what the fandom is, and what it isn't. After getting a general idea, that's when I learned about fursuits, conventions, the community and the immense love and care that is found in the fandom. It wasn't just those things that I found to be pretty amazing, but also that was the day I found a real sense of belonging! And before that I'd never really felt that before. I'd tried a lot of things to see where I stuck and a place that I would enjoy for a long time; I never truly did, until that night. I truly felt led to this small yet very diverse place, where there's real love, real care and real acceptance (Of course I'm only speaking from my personal experience. I'm NOT in any way trying to say what the fandom "is" or what it "isn't" because I know that there are many other furs that have had widely different experiences than I have. I can't speak for all of us; I can only speak for myself as far as what I think of the fandom). I certainly found that It's a place to be yourself and a place where you can just have a good time! There are not many places left like this in the world. And from that night up until now, I will now say that I am eternally thankful for finding this wild, awesome, crazy and especially FUN fandom! It's a wonderful place to be, and I don't regret a single second of it!
On top of what I just said, I just want to say one more thing: Despite what others say about the fandom/furries, despite the drama, despite the differences or problems you may have with another fur and the many other problems we often come across in this fandom, it still doesn't take away from what the furry fandom is really about! Really, what fandom, group or place is perfect? This is life, were are merely people on this earth; and people cause problems. But they also make good of things! So now, it's up to those of us who care about the fandom to make it the best that we can! We may not know what to do, but at the same time, the answer is so simple: Be there for each other. Since we make up the fandom, it's important to be united to one another in love and community. Like I said before, we only have one shot at this kind of a life, so it's important to make it the absolute best that we can! No matter how much time we may have left.

*Catches breath* Wow that was long! But I assure you, everything I just said came from my heart. It may just be my opinion speaking from my heart, but that's truly what I know through my time in the fandom, so far.


Finally, I'd like to touch on one last thing that I've been thinking about, nearly every single day of my hiatus. I was thinking of ways to explain what I'm about to say. I did mention earlier that I was going to say some things that may upset some of you. Well I'll do my best to explain it as clear and gently as possible. Here we go; I'll just get it all out while it's on my heart. First I want to make it very clear to those I chat with on a regular basis, that even though I may be back, this does NOT mean that I will always have the time to chat. I'm still in school, I still have a busy life outside of the fandom and it's still very hard to stay active; especially during a school year like this! That being said, I advise those of you that I do chat with regularly, to PLEASE BE PATIENT!! I'm only saying this because I know from past experiences that I would get message after message after message from different furs wondering where I am or why I'm not replying. I want to make it clear to those of you who do chat with me, that I'm not in any way ignoring you! I would never even think of doing that! If I don't reply in your preferred time frame, I'm very sorry. I'm most likely in the middle of something, I'm tired from the day or I'm in a situation where chatting isn't an option. It's very important that I tend to my education and those around me that need my time. This doesn't mean I won't reply or chat at all; It just means that it may take me some time to reply or chat. Who knows how long it takes me? Times will vary. So please remember this for when you do want to chat and I don't respond right away. I'd appreciate it! It certainly makes my life easier knowing that I don't need to stress myself over waiting messages. I'm still very much looking forward to chatting with you! There are just times that I cannot. I hope you understand <3



Whew!! My paws are getting sore from typing all of this! I hope it's not too much for you all XD

And now it's time to ask, How are you all doing?? Tell me what's been happening! :D Please feel free to comment below! I want to hear what all of you have been up to! What's new? Anything interesting happening? Updates of any sort? I'm eager to know!

I know I could just look at the journals/submissions that each of you posted but to be perfectly honest, I don't want to XD I just did not want to go through over 5000+ messages! O.o So I had to click the dreaded "Nuke" buttons. I'm so sorry :( But I just didn't want to go through all of them :P (This journal was hard enough to write X3)


So, feel free to comment what you want and I'll be sure to reply to you when I can :3

It's great to be back! I sure missed you all! *group hugs and gives each of you a lick on the cheek* It's good to see you guys again :))

Okay, I'm gonna stop now so I can go ice my paws. Looking forward to talking with you all again!

Take care for now! Love you all! You're all the best fuzzy friends/family ever! :D

<3 Samson ~


P.S. Oh I forgot to mention.. it looks like I'll be going to Anthrocon 2014!! :3
Kay, bye X3